Independent Campaign Expenditures and Electioneering Communications
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This dataset contains information about independent expenditures, independent expenditure ads, and electioneering communications reported by individuals, businesses, unions, organizations, or any other person as defined in RCW 42.17A for the last 17 years as reported to the PDC on form C6 Independent Expenditure and Electioneering Communications.
Only expenditures meeting the following criteria are reportable (see RCW 42.17A for details):
Independent Expenditures of $100 or more
Independent Expenditure Ads appearing within 21 days of an election costing $1,000 or more
Electioneering Communications appearing within 60 days of an election costing $1,000 or more
This dataset is a best-effort by the PDC to provide a complete set of records as described herewith and may contain incomplete or incorrect information. The PDC provides access to the original reports for the purpose of record verification.
Descriptions attached to this dataset do not constitute legal definitions; please consult RCW 42.17A and WAC Title 390 for legal definitions and additional information regarding political finance disclosure requirements.
CONDITION OF RELEASE: This publication constitutes a list of individuals prepared by the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission and may not be used for commercial purposes. This list is provided on the condition and with the understanding that the persons receiving it agree to this statutorily imposed limitation on its use. See
RCW 42.56.070(9) and AGO 1975 No. 15.
| Field Name | Data Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| amount | number | If a sponsor received funds from any source in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the amount must be reported. |
| ballot_name | text | The name of the ballot initiative identified in the advertising. The sponsor determines what goes into this block. It can be an initiative number or a brief description (e.g. if the sponsor is supporting or opposing a statewide initiative they could input: I-7777, Initiative 7777, Traffic Congestion Initiative, etc.). |
| ballot_number | text | This is the initiative number issued by the Secretary of State for a Statewide ballot initiative. Local ballot initiatives also have numbers and may or may not be provided by the sponsor. |
| ballot_type | text | This is the type of ballot initiative being supported or opposed; either Statewide or Local. |
| candidate_candidacy_id | number | The unique identifier for the candidate that benefited from the independent expenditure. It identifies a candidate running for a particular office and jurisdiction in a given election year. This identifier can be used to reference information in other data sources. |
| candidate_committee_id | number | The unique identifier of the candidate committee that is supported or opposed by this expenditure. This identifier can be used to reference information in other data sets. |
| candidate_entity_id | number | The unique ID assigned to a public office holder or candidate. This id is consistent across years and, offices or candidacies and is the preferred id for identifying a natural person. In other data sources, it may be referred to as person_id or entity_id. |
| candidate_filer_id | text | The filer_id of a candidate identified in the advertising. The filer_id is a unique id assigned to a candidate. The filer id is consistent across election years with the exception that an individual running for a second office in the same election year will receive a second filer id. There is no correlation between the two. The combination of filer_id and election_year uniquely identifies a candidate campaign. |
| candidate_first_name | text | The first name of a candidate identified in the advertising. |
| candidate_jurisdiction | text | The jurisdiction of the office being sought. |
| candidate_last_name | text | The last name of a candidate identified in the advertising. |
| candidate_name | text | The name of a candidate identified in the advertising. |
| candidate_office | text | The office sought for any candidate identified in the advertising. |
| candidate_office_type | text | The type of office the identified candidate is seeking. Either Statewide, Legislative, Local, or Judicial. |
| candidate_party | text | The party affiliation of an identified candidate for a partisan office. |
| date_advertising_presented | calendar_date | The date the advertising was first presented or mailed. |
| date_expense_obligated | calendar_date | The date the advertising expense was first obligated. |
| date_received | calendar_date | If a sponsor received funds from any source in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the date received must be reported. |
| election_year | number | The election year in the case of a C6 is the reporting year. |
| expenditure_amount | number | The amount or value of an itemized expenditure. If no reasonable estimate can be made of value the sponsor must describe the activity, services, property or right furnished precisely and attach a copy of the item produced or distributed. That attachment is available with the C6 image. |
| expenditure_description | text | The description of the expenditure (e.g. direct mail, or newspaper, TV, or radio ad). |
| filer_id | text | This column is an alias for candidate_filer_id and may be removed in a future version of the dataset. |
| for_or_against | text | Whether the advertising supports (for) or opposes (against) the candidate or ballot proposition. |
| funders_address | text | If a sponsor received funds from any source in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the source’s street address must be disclosed. |
| funders_city | text | If a sponsor received funds from any source in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the source’s city must be disclosed. |
| funders_employer | text | If a sponsor received funds from an individual in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the source’s employer must be disclosed. |
| funders_employer_city | text | If a sponsor received funds from an individual in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the source employer’s city must be disclosed. |
| funders_employer_state | text | If a sponsor received funds from an individual in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the source employer’s state must be disclosed. |
| funders_first_name | text | If a sponsor received funds from an individual in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the sources first name must be disclosed. |
| funders_location | point | The geographic coordinates for the address of any source of funding used for this electioneering communication as provided in section 5 of the C6 report. The accuracy of the coordinates is determined by the quality of the address provided and in some cases may be loosely based on the zip code alone. In cases where the address can not be converted to coordinates, this field will be empty. |
| funders_middle_initial | text | If a sponsor received funds from an individual in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the source’s middle initial is disclosed if known. |
| funders_name | text | If a sponsor received funds from any source in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the sources name must be disclosed. If the source is an individual this is their last name. If the source is an organization, this is the organization’s name. |
| funders_occupation | text | If a sponsor received funds from an individual in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the source’s zip code must be disclosed. |
| funders_state | text | If a sponsor received funds from any source in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the source’s state must be disclosed. |
| funders_zipcode | text | If a sponsor received funds from any source in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication the source’s zip code must be disclosed. |
| id | text | PDC internal identifier that corresponds to a single contribution or correction record. When combined with the origin value, this number uniquely identifies a single row. |
| origin | text | The form, schedule or section where the record was reported. Please see https://www.pdc.wa.gov/learn/forms for a list of forms and instructions. C6.2 – Itemized Expenditures: represents itemized expenditures of more than $100 as reported in block 2 on the C6. C6.3 – Identified Entity: represents the Candidates and Ballot Propositions identified in the advertising as reported in block 3 on the C6.. C6.5 – Funding Source: represents the funding sources who gave in excess of $250 for an Electioneering Communication as reported in block 5 on the C6. |
| portion_of_amount | number | The portion of the itemized expenditure amount attributable to the candidate or ballot proposition. |
| report_date | calendar_date | The date the C6 is filed with the PDC. |
| report_number | text | PDC identifier used for tracking the individual form C6 . Multiple entries will have the same report number when they were reported to the PDC at the same time. The report number is unique to the report it represents. When a report is amended, a new report number is assigned that supersedes the original version and the original report records are not included in this dataset. |
| report_type | text | There are three report types that can be reported on a C6: a) Independent Expenditures (occurring at any time) -- $100 or more; b) Independent Expenditure Ads (appearing within 21 days of an election) -- $1,000 or more; c) Electioneering Communications (appearing within 60 days of an election) -- $1,000 or more. Please see https://www.pdc.wa.gov/learn/forms for a list of forms and instructions. |
| sponsor_address | text | The street address of the entity submitting the C6. |
| sponsor_city | text | The city of the entity submitting the C6. |
| sponsor_description | text | If reporting an Electioneering Communication, it is necessary to disclose a description of the source of funding for the communication. The sponsor can be one of these descriptions: a) An individual using only personal funds; b) An individual using personal funds and/or funds received from others; c) A business, union, group, association, organization, or other person using only general treasury funds; d) A business, union, group, association, organization, or other person using general treasury funds and/or funds received from others; e) A political committee filing C-3 and C-4 reports (RCW 42.17A.205 - .240); f) A political committee filing C-5 reports (RCW 42.17A.250); g) Other. |
| sponsor_email | text | The email address of the entity submitting the C6. |
| sponsor_entity_id | number | This is the PDC identifier for the sponsor of the expenditure. If this is a committee or other entity that has additional filing requirements, this ID can be used to find other records such as political committee registrations or reports. The entity_id is the PDC universal unique identifier. |
| sponsor_id | text | The unique id assigned to the sponsor of an Independent Expenditure. The sponsor id is consistent across election years and C6 reports. |
| sponsor_location | point | The geographic coordinates of the sponsor's address as provided on the C6 report. The accuracy of the coordinates is determined by the quality of the address provided and in some cases may be loosely based on the zip code alone. In cases where the address can not be converted to coordinates, this field will be empty. |
| sponsor_name | text | The name of the individual, organization, or person who made the Independent Expenditure or Electioneering Communication – this is the person who sponsored the advertising as reported on the C6 in block 1. |
| sponsor_phone | text | The telephone number of the entity submitting the C6. |
| sponsor_state | text | The state of the entity submitting the C6. |
| sponsor_zip | text | The zip code of the entity submitting the C6. |
| total_cycle | number | Total Independent Expenditures and Electioneering Communications made during this election campaign. This amount includes the amounts shown on this C6 report and previously submitted C6 reports. |
| total_this_report | number | The sum of all itemized expenditures of more than $100 and the total_unitemized on this C6 report. |
| total_unitemized | number | Only expenditures of more than $100 must be itemized on the C6. But the aggregate of payments of $100 or less must be provided on this line. |
| url | url | A link to a PDF version of the original report as it was filed to the PDC. |
| vendor_address | text | The street address of the vendor or recipient who created the advertising. |
| vendor_city | text | The city of the vendor or recipient who created the advertising. |
| vendor_location | point | The geographic coordinates of the vendor's address as provided on the C6 report for an expenditure. The accuracy of the coordinates is determined by the quality of the address provided and in some cases may be loosely based on the zip code alone. In cases where the address can not be converted to coordinates, this field will be empty. |
| vendor_name | text | The name of the vendor or recipient who created the advertising. |
| vendor_state | text | The state of the vendor or recipient who created the advertising. |
| vendor_zipcode | text | The zip code of the vendor or recipient who created the advertising. |